Data from the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics indicated on Sunday that the number of Palestinian fatalities in the war launched by Israel against the Gaza Strip is "the highest since the Nakba of 1948." The bureau stated in a press release on the eve of the new year: "By the end of 2023, the population of the Gaza Strip reached 2.3 million individuals, of which 1.06 million are children under the age of eighteen, accounting for 47 percent of the population in the area."
The report added, "The number of martyrs in Palestine since the beginning of 2023 reached 22,404, of whom 22,141 have been martyred since October 7, 2023, with 98% of them in the Gaza Strip, including about 9,000 children and 6,450 women." The statement continued, "The number of martyrs in the West Bank since October 7, 2023, has reached 319, including 111 children and 4 women. More than 100 journalists have also been martyred according to the records of the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Furthermore, the number of missing persons reported in the Gaza Strip exceeds 7,000, with 67% of them being children and women, and nearly 1.9 million citizens have been displaced within the Strip away from their homes."
The statement from the Central Bureau of Statistics noted that "according to data from the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, as of the end of 2023, the number of prisoners held in Israeli occupation prisons has reached approximately 7,800 prisoners by the end of November 2023, including 76 female prisoners and 260 children. Additionally, the number of administrative detainees (held without charge) is 2,870."
The statement reviewed the number of Palestinians and their locations around the world, indicating that the estimated number of Palestinians at the end of 2023 reached about 14.63 million. It added that there are 5.55 million within the Palestinian territories, with more than one-third residing in the Gaza Strip, approximately 1.75 million Palestinians in the territories of 1948, around 6.56 million in Arab countries, and about 772,000 in foreign countries.
